With Google’s unrelenting crusade against black hat and anti-insight online marketing campaigns, content is becoming more of a go-to channel to achieve B2B lead generation and brand awareness goals.
But it’s not just about blabbing about products and posting it virtually anywhere you can. It demands a higher level of commitment than ordinary blogs, especially when it comes to the ‘creation’ stage.
Below are 4 of the best practices for content creation shared by Mike Murray, online marketing strategist and founder of Online Marketing Coach, posted at ContentMarketingInsitute.com:
1. Prioritize quality AND quantity in online content
Google’s Penguin update and, more recently, its Hummingbird update enhanced the ability of its search engines to distinguish quality websites and online content from spammy or link bait-laden ones.
Given these algorithm updates, businesses that publish quality online content should naturally stand out, and their content should rank more highly on search engines. Brad Shorr’s article, What Quality Content Is, and How to Help Your Clients Create It, is a fine refresher course on this subject. Brad does an excellent job at distilling some best practices on what can be an esoteric subject and matter of personal taste in the hands of some writers.
2. Grab attention with titles — and retain it by using visual breaks
Anyone who has come to the world of online content by way of journalism knows the value of a catchy headline. Readers’ eyes tend to wander towards what they find the most interesting, compelling, or curious on the page when presented with multiple options or when faced with a limited time frame for consumption. I
Once you’ve captured your readers’ attention with a headline, you still need to keep their eyes on your page until the very end of the piece (so they see all of the calls to action). Use sub-headlines for various sections, or use bullet points to break up the page visually..
3. SEO success is all in the details
Speaking of SEO, don’t ever lose sight of its power and the value it can provide. Well-chosen keywords are a must when it comes to writing online content. Relevant keywords used frequently throughout your content (but not too frequently) will bring people to the online content you create.
4. Conversion is the ultimate test of content success
Some online content is created to establish brand authority; other content is positioned simply to serve as a helpful informational or educational resource for its readers. And in both scenarios, content is often created for the overall purpose of promoting or selling a product or service.
Whether you are writing content based on the buying cycle in your industry, making social media updates, or producing persona-based online content, strive to include compelling calls to action to help guide your audience through the stages of your engagement process and, ultimately, your business funnel. Leaving these vital content components out of your online content is like building a sailboat and forgetting to hoist the sail that will power it through to its destination.
This content is originally appeared at Callbox United Kingdom.
